Photos Help With Weed Identification
The 10 most unwanted weeds include crabgrass, pigweed, ragweed and Canada thistle.
May/June 2013
By Kris Wetherbee
Annual weeds are prolific seed producers. These seeds will germinate, grow and complete their life cycle in one growing season. Perennial weeds multiply by seed, by bulbs, by underground stems called rhizomes, or by way of stolons, which are creeping horizontal stems that form roots and new plants all along their length.
Crabgrass
(Digitaria spp.)
Annual
Redroot Pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus)
Annual
Common Ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia)
Annual
Lamb’s Quarters (Chenopodium album)
Annual
Common Purslane
(Portulaca oleracea)
Annual
Prickly Lettuce
(Lactuca serriola)
Annual/
Biennial
Hoe seedlings and young plants; pull plants or use a mechanical weeder. Remove plant below the rosette of leaves, then mulch heavily; wear sturdy gloves.
Field Bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis)
Perennial
Curly Dock
(Rumex crispus)
Perennial
Canada Thistle
(Cirsium arvense)
Perennial
Common Yellow Wood Sorrel (Oxalis stricta)
Perennial
Hoe seedlings, pull plants and mulch heavily. Do not let this go to seed. Thwart this acid lover with an alkaline soil amendment such as wood ash to bring the soil pH closer to neutral.
Read more: Learn how to use a variety of techniques to combat weeds in Natural Weed Control.